MWC – Chapter 49 Buying a House and a Land

I AM DROPPING THIS NOVEL. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE THEY CAN. IF POSSIBLE PLEASE SHARE THE LINK SO I CAN BINGE READ TOO.

Wolong Bay is a small river bend, a tributary of the Wolong River, flowing east into the sea.

Before the industrial era, such river sections near the estuary were common ports, but now they are no longer suitable.

The land here is not suitable for farming but has formed several small fishing towns with about a thousand households. Each family has fishing nets hanging outside, and every day vehicles transport aquatic products away. Therefore, the roads are relatively good, with no long-term disrepair causing potholes.

This area belongs to the outskirts of Beiguan, with some old factories and a lot of abandoned land. The thousand-acre land purchased by Wen Liangyu is an abandoned factory area. The ground is bare, with the original equipment and buildings dismantled and sold off, and a thousand-acre fenced-off land surrounding a lonely four-story building.

The building doesn’t seem too old but looks a bit shabby. At the entrance on the first floor hangs a sign with black characters on a white background – “Life Magazine.”

On the way, Wen Liangyu roughly introduced the situation. Most of the people at this magazine have left, leaving only four or five people.

Now, a row of sedans and flashy sports cars suddenly stopped in front of the magazine building.

Some people looked from the upstairs windows, and some hurried out to greet them.

An old man with gray hair, wearing black-framed glasses and dressed in a Zhongshan suit, was waved over by Wen Liangyu: “Old Deng, come here, let me introduce you.” He then smiled at Lu Ming, “This is the director and chief editor, Deng Jiadong. I recruited him heavily when the magazine first transitioned. He was a senior editor at World News.”

World News, in this world, has a status no less than the most glorious newspaper in Lu Ming’s previous life, such as the Daily Mail.

Lu Ming shook hands with the old man, smiling and addressing him as “Uncle Deng.”

Uncle Deng looked bewildered as he shook hands with Lu Ming, his eyes filled with resentment when looking at Wen Liangyu.

Wen Liangyu laughed and said, “Old Deng, there’s good news…”

Uncle Deng rolled his eyes, “Another one resigned voluntarily, saving you a severance payment, right?”

Wen Liangyu smiled, “Indeed, but my friend here, Director Lu, is taking over our publication. However, whether you few remaining will be retained depends on your talents!”

“Again selling us out, right?” Uncle Deng sneered.

“You two talk, you two talk!” Wen Liangyu smiled and stepped aside, seemingly knowing this old man’s temper and not arguing with him. But as people say, those with different paths don’t work together, so it’s better to meet less.

“It’s not easy for Uncle Deng to stick it out!” Lu Ming said with a smile.

“Bullshit, stick it out? Wen Lao Si wanted me gone, but I refused! He promised me great things back then, and now he wants me to leave voluntarily. No way, he has to fire me and pay me a big severance!” Uncle Deng stubbornly argued like a child.

Lu Ming rubbed his nose, “Uncle Deng, if now, for example, funds were sufficient, do you have the confidence to run this magazine?”

“No!” Uncle Deng rolled his eyes, “I do content. You give me a direction, and I’ll do it, ensuring precision and perfection. But selling magazines and getting ads, I don’t know how! I told him long ago, find a business-savvy person to be the director. That Wen kid, always believing in me and giving me all the power, is simply ridiculous! Now the magazine fails, and it’s like I owe him!”

Lu Ming smiled bitterly, realizing that Wen Liangyu’s approach of either trusting people completely or not using them at all was wrong. Running a magazine was never about just having good content.

“Alright, Uncle Deng, I want to do something more fashionable. We can integrate ads into the articles, targeting young women to middle-aged women. Do you have experience in this area?”

Uncle Deng was slightly stunned, sizing up Lu Ming, “You have some skill, better than Wen Lao Si. That kid was a mess, wanting everyone to love the magazine without understanding niche reader markets. He thought selling sex appeal would work for everyone. Isn’t that nonsense?”

Thinking for a moment, he continued, “I have no experience in fashion. So kid, if you take over, just fire me, but get the compensation from Wen, or I’ll demand it from you, right?”

Lu Ming laughed, “Yes, rest assured about that. I’ll look upstairs, will it bother anyone?”

Uncle Deng shrugged, “Everyone’s just chatting and snacking, no bother at all.”

Lu Ming went upstairs for a look and returned to smile at Wen Liangyu, “Brother Wen, I’ll take over the magazine and rename it ‘New Life,’ as a continuation of ‘Life Magazine.’ Is that alright with you?”

Wen Liangyu smiled, “Don’t worry about me. I’m not some pretentious literati with deep feelings for this magazine. If you want to take over, that’s great.”

Lu Ming thought for a moment and added, “Why not transfer the land to me instead of waiting for the bank to repossess it? I’ll buy it.”

Wen Liangyu was stunned, sizing up Lu Ming, half-joking and half-serious, “Brother, have you heard some insider news? Is the land here going to be valuable?”

Lu Ming smiled bitterly, “Brother Wen, I don’t know about the future, but now there’s no such inside information. However, after taking over, I’ll find ways to develop the land, but who knows when that will be. My company lacks office space, and this place is good for future development. The land price is low, and this building isn’t too old. With some renovation, it can be used.”

Wen Liangyu looked at Lu Ming, initially thinking of suggesting a half-and-half ownership, but then shook his head. That wouldn’t make sense. He had initially wanted the bank to repossess the land.

Although it’s the Imperial Bank, a state-owned institution, and not afraid of bad debts, it’s always better if someone takes over. After all, Director Qiu, who approved the loan, would appreciate it, and he could continue to leverage the bank.

But that would mean selling the land to this young brother for three thousand dollars plus interest.

“Brother, this is your voluntary decision, not me forcing you!” Wen Liangyu said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

“Of course, I proposed it myself!” Lu Ming smiled, looking at the land. Though it was just a bare, fenced-off area, a thousand acres of land was now his. It felt quite exciting. Perhaps the desire to own property was ingrained in his blood, more than any other business venture.

However, he had about five hundred thousand in his account, intended for investing in the Trimac Company.

Fortunately, paying interest to the bank first was enough.

But the building’s renovation needed to be done well, costing a few thousand dollars. Installing air conditioning, office decoration, and everything else would cost around ten thousand dollars. The four-story building would need three to four central air conditioning units, costing about ten thousand dollars.

As a technology company, the environment impacts the client’s confidence.

Therefore, the overall renovation budget should be three hundred thousand dollars.

In reality, building a similar four-story building now would also cost around three hundred thousand dollars.

He could get a loan from the bank for this from Zhou Xiaobao of the Immigration House.

Lu Ming smiled wryly, realizing that starting a business meant always wanting a share of profitable projects and having loans was necessary. A capitalist without debt was not a good capitalist.

Fortunately, his patents provided a steady income, minimizing the risk of a financial collapse.

…

Everyone took a brief tour, and several cars drove off, kicking up dust.

Returning to the Wind Bao Club, there was bad news. The whistleblower journalist Jin Zhengyi from “Two Cents” had been found, but he died in a car accident a few days ago. The police confirmed his identity just now. Wen Liangyu’s friend at the police station, who was asked to find Jin Zhengyi, called with the news, also giving the address where Jin Zhengyi had been hiding.

“You can go, but at night. Old Wang will notify the night shift. There probably won’t be any valuable clues left, as the police have searched thoroughly. Here’s the address…” Wen Liangyu handed a small note to Lu Ming.

Lu Ming took it, remaining silent for a long time.